


A Man's Best Friend

by EllanaSan



Series: 146 aesthetics for one OTP challenge [4]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, bonding with pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24319534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllanaSan/pseuds/EllanaSan
Summary: He did a double take. “This ain’t a dog, sweetheart.”“It is.” she insisted, her frown deepening with curiosity. “Don’t you have them in your District?”
Relationships: Haymitch Abernathy/Effie Trinket
Series: 146 aesthetics for one OTP challenge [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604485
Comments: 9
Kudos: 124





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So we keep on with the I-don’t-remember-how-many prompts challenge. For this one, the prompt was: all grown up.  
> This will be a two-shots. Next part next Friday! I hope you enjoy it!

There was worse that they could have asked of him than jumping out of a cake for a girl’s sweet sixteen – that much, Chaff had made clear.

It didn’t mean Haymitch had to like it.

He let the pack of hysterical teenagers pat and grope him all they wanted, forcing a smile that quickly turned into something more like a wince on his lips. He made his escape as soon as he could. The house was huge – like every other Capitol house he had seen so far – and when he spotted two sliding doors in the living-room, he went through them without any sort of hesitation.

What could they do to him that they hadn’t already done?

His family was dead, his girl was gone…

He had told Chaff they could kiss his ass when Eleven’s victor had sat him down on the train at the beginning of this Tour of Hell and had told him what might be requested of him. There was _no way_ he would whore himself out. There was no way they would get _that_ piece of him. He would slit his own throat first.

There had been requests that he had ignored and his defiance had, so far, gone unpunished but Chaff had advised _against_ rebelling over something as stupid as making a surprise appearance at one of the secretaries of state’s daughter’s birthday party. _Choose your battles, kid_ , Chaff had said.

So there he was, the Quarter Quell victor in all his glory, jumping out of cakes.

The gardens were as pompous as the rest of the house but, for once, he was grateful for it. He battled the instinctive fear that griped him when he saw the colorful flowers – it was the middle of winter, how did they even _get_ those flowers to bloom? Mutt technology? – and walked on, as far away from the manor as he dared.

There were a lot of narrow paths that twisted around bushes and topiary trees and it wasn’t long before he got a little turned around so, when he heard a voice, he headed in that direction. The guests were all inside, he figured he had stumbled upon a gardener who would be able to point him in the right direction before he would be missed – who was he kidding though? He was probably _already_ missed. The Capitol couldn’t get enough of its new victor…

The voice, he quickly asserted as he came closer, was too young and too high-pitched to belong to a gardener and he was about to turn around undetected when the path abruptly twisted and he was standing in what was probably the central piece of the garden : a clearing of sort in the middle of the topiary trees with a huge fountain surrounded by stone benches.

On one of those benches sat a girl in a soft blue coat with bubblegum pink hair. His first instinct was to run away but, then, she giggled at the antics of a small animal who was jumping around next to the fountain and he relaxed because, despite the hair and the heels and the fact that she looked like a small version of those teenagers dolls inside, it was obvious she was still a kid. It was hard to tell because of the outrageous make-up Capitols insisted on coating their children with, but she was small enough to be around Hayden’s age.

It hurt like a knife stab.

That this girl of eleven or twelve would be alive while _his brother_ was dead, it was…

There was a loud gasp.

The girl had finally looked up and spotted him and she was now staring with wide eyes, tensed as if she was ready to bolt.

He immediately lifted both hands in the air in a peaceful gesture. He hadn’t been the best company since his victory, _hell_ he had pushed away everyone who had tried to be there for him and he delighted in biting the head of everyone who tried to _talk_ to him, save Chaff, but… He wasn’t enough of an asshole yet to delight in frightening an innocent little girl – if such a thing as an innocent Capitol kid existed.

And he wasn’t enough of an idiot not to realize the sudden appearance of a District boy – they could dress him up all they wanted, everything about him _screamed_ District – could be frightening to a child who was being fed lines about what monsters District people were from infancy.

“It’s alright, sweetheart.” he said softly. “Don’t mean any harm. I just got…”

“ _Haymitch Abernathy_.”

It was a reverent whisper, the type of which he had grown used to in the last six months. The type he _hated_.

Still, she was just a kid who was around his brother’s age and he forced himself to keep a firm hold on his temper. “I take it you’re a fan?”

She was still staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers. Very blue eyes. She would be a looker when she grew up, he mused.

“Yes.” she squeaked. “I… I have golden tickets for the Tour.”

He wasn’t sure what that meant. Probably that she attended all the stupid events they insisted on putting him through.

The animal she had been playing with let out a series of angry barks and Haymitch’s attention turned to him. It was wearing a pink plushy coat. He came closer, a little curious despite himself. “What have you got here? Is that some sort of mutt rat?”

She blinked at him and back at the… _thing_.

“It is a dog.” she answered with a small frown.

He did a double take. “This _ain’t_ a dog, sweetheart.”

“It _is_.” she insisted, her frown deepening with curiosity. “Don’t you have them in your District?”

Any other time, he might have gotten angry over that question. _Offended_. But there was no loathing or superiority in her tone, just… She was curious, just curious.

Hayden had been a curious kid too.

“Sure, we do.” He shrugged. “But this ain’t a dog. This is a _rat_.” He scoffed and walked closer to the bench, making sure she was alright with his presence before dropping down next to her, leaving a respectable distance between them. He was big compared to her small little self and he had just slaughtered people on TV less than six months earlier, he didn’t want to spook her. “Real dogs are this high, at least.”

He lifted his hand at the approximate height of one of the average strays that abounded in Twelve.

“Oh.” she said, glancing at the rat-dog. “That _is_ bigger. Bigger than a poodle even.”

“Poodle… That’s the ones that have weird haircuts, yeah?” he asked. He had seen them. Capitol dogs dyed in all the colors of the rainbow, their fur shaped into balls and cones and what not…

“I suppose.” She giggled as if his definition was hilarious. “This one is a Chihuahua. It is the latest rage.” She paused for a moment and then wrinkled her nose. “It fits in handbags.”

Haymitch looked at the rat-dog and felt a little sorry for him. “It’s yours?”

She wrinkled her nose harder. “No. He belongs to Mrs Herbely. She told me I could borrow him and amuse myself with him outside while the _big girls_ enjoy their party.” She used air quote around _big girls_ and she looked so offended that Haymitch bit back a smirk. “I was not supposed to be here at all. The invitation was for Lyssa only but Nanny is sick and Mother says I get into mischief when I am left unattended so Lyssa _had_ to bring me.” She pursed her lips harder in a sulky pout. “Lyssa is my sister. _Lyssandra_. She did _not_ tell me you would be here. I would have… I would have dressed better…”

She self-consciously patted her pink hair and Haymitch fought _not_ to roll his eyes. As far as Capitol kids went, she was cute enough. Not obnoxious, not too entitled… _Hell_ , she hadn’t jumped on him and demanded signatures, pictures or hugs yet. She was behaving much better than the “ _big girls”_ in his opinion.

“It was a surprise for the birthday girl.” he offered. “Don’t think your sis knew.”

She watched him for a second and he figured she had never heard the shortened version of the word _sister_ before. A few Capitols had already commented on how funny the way he talked was – in a condescending tone that told him just how _exotic_ they truly found it.

“Lavinia is lucky.” she sighed. “I wish it were _my_ birthday.”

“Trust me, you don’t want me jumping out of your birthday cake. It got messy. Cream and crumbs everywhere.” he snorted. “Some of those girls got some on their dresses. They weren’t happy about it.”

The giggles were definitely a little wicked this time. “I _hope_ you got my sister! Mother will have _a fit_.”

“Not a big fan of your sister, are you?” he asked, unable to hide a touch of pain.

He remembered this. Being annoyed at Hayden just because he was younger and always eager to follow him around… He remembered Hayden being annoyed with him too.

“She is _perfect_.” the girl answered in a tone that told him everything and nothing at all. There was sadness and envy in there. Admiration and devotion too.

He flashed her a charming smile just because he felt a little sorry for the kid. “Well, if she’s half as pretty as you, I bet she is.” 

The girl beamed and watched him as if he was _shitting_ _fucking_ _rainbows_. He shifted on the bench, a little ill-at-ease. He had meant to be nice, not…

Suddenly, it was like a switch had been flicked. Her face closed. “If I introduced you, you would fell in love on the spot. Everyone falls in love with her on the spot.”

She sounded far too bitter for such a small kid.

“Doubt that.” he snorted. “Ain’t free.”

The words came naturally still and it was only once they had died on his lips that he remembered Mabel was gone.

He looked away from her inquisitive blue eyes but not in time to miss the disappointment in them.

She had a crush alright, this one.

“Oh, you have a girlfriend?” she asked tentatively. “They did not say on TV.”

He licked his lips, staring at the dog. He meant to put an end to that discussion and stand up. That was what he meant to do. So he couldn’t explain to himself why, instead of doing just that, he found himself spilling the truth. “She died.”

She gasped and then her small hand was on his arm. It stayed there for a brief moment only. He was grateful she didn’t leave it there or try to hug him because he didn’t like being touched anymore and…

“I am _so_ sorry! Your family, the fire… They reported it on TV. I _forgot_.” she babbled. “I am so, so sorry! It was so insensitive of me! I…”

“It’s okay.” he cut her off quietly before she could work herself up even more. He tossed her a curious glance. The mention of the _accidental fire_ that had taken his family and destroyed a good part of the Seam having made the news always made him tense. He had grown used to falsely sympathetic Capitols offering their condolences but the girl seemed genuinely upset. Her blue eyes were teary and she bit down on her bottom lips and stared at her shoes. “You’re okay, sweetheart?”

“Yes.” She nodded almost frantically and he wasn’t sure which one of them she was trying to convince. “It is just… I… I lost someone too recently. My grandfather. He… He is the one who bought me the golden tickets. He was supposed to come to Tour events with me but…” Her voice didn’t break but it grew strained and he could tell at the way she swallowed that she was fighting tears. “Lyssa is taking me instead. She does not really like you though. Grandfather… Grandfather understood. He liked you too. We even sent some money to sponsor you… Not much because I did not have much savings and Mother would have had a _fit_ if she had found out but… He helped me send the money and…”

Her babbling came to an abrupt stop and Haymitch watched in horror as a tear dropped from her eyes and straight to her knee. She still wasn’t looking at him.

He had never been good with crying girls.

Never.

Never mind one that young.

“Well… Thanks for the money.” he said and it felt so _lame_ because… She might have been the first Capitol with _real feelings_ he had ever met. However, she was still a child. Probably she was untainted yet, still innocent in a way. “And I’m sorry for… You know… Your loss.”

It felt awkward and inadequate, exactly like the words of comfort people in Twelve had tried to give him.

She took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter, her face doing something a little weird. All the emotions vanished, her features were schooled into something detached… She was too young to have needed to learn how to distance herself like that. And she looked like a cool kid. It was a shame.

“Thank you.” she acknowledged. A tentative smile stretched her lips. “I am _so_ glad to have met you. I… I _really_ hoped you would win.”

Her face flushed red. It was obvious even with the make-up.

He felt his mouth stretch into a genuine smirk. The charming one too. The one he used to direct at girls without thinking twice about it.

She almost _swooned_.

“I better head back.” he said, almost regretfully. He would probably already get told off by his escort – and Chaff – for having disappeared that long. The girl looked disappointed but she nodded as he got back to his feet. His grey eyes fell back on the dog that immediately started growling and yapping at his ankles as if it didn’t realize Haymitch could have swept it aside with a well-aimed kick. Annoying little rat… “Hey, sweetheart… Promise me something… You ever decide to get a dog of your own, get a real one, yeah?”

She wrinkled her little nose. “I am more of a cat person.”

That made him laugh for some reason. “Figures.”

It was only once he had found his way back to the house and the high-pitched laughter of sixteen year-old girls hit him again that he realized he had never asked her name.

Not that it really mattered.

As surprisingly refreshing as the encounter had been, he would never see her again and she would soon be forgotten…


	2. Chapter 2

“Lavi.” Haymitch called without raising his voice too much.

The brown and grey mutt who was sprawled on the back porch lifted her head to look in his direction, alert but not quite enough to actually _stand up_. Haymitch couldn’t really blame her, Finn had exhausted her by making her fetch a ball countless times and trying to ride her like a pony. Not that the dog had complained. She loved kids and she loved to play but, still, it was a lot more exercising than she was used to.

He stepped away from the small crowd of people in the children’s backyard. Finn’s birthday party was dying down – mostly because the five year-old boy had succumbed to what could only be a sugar coma and was now asleep on Jo’s lap. Katniss and Annie were chatting in one corner, Beetee and Peeta were inspecting the boy’s brand new cookout grill – no doubt trying to tinker with it – and Plutarch and Cressida were locked in an intense discussion about work – and he was pretty sure Effie had _forbidden_ that kind of talk today so it begged the question…

Where was his wife?

_Girl_ , he corrected himself mentally because the last time he had slipped and called her that out loud she had remarked that she must have missed the wedding.

They didn’t need all the fuss of an official ceremony, in his opinion, and it was the word that always came to mind when he thought about her. _Wife._ He didn’t think she really minded. Marriage had never really been on the table but she never missed an opportunity to call him out on the slip of tongue.

“Lavi.” he said, a little louder.

The mutt dropped her head back on the floorboards with a sigh as if Haymitch was inconveniencing her a lot and then flopped back to her gangly four legs. He patted the side of his thigh and she obediently trotted over. He rubbed her head when she got close enough and she sat down with her big tongue lolling out.

“Where’s your mama?” he asked. “Where’s Effie? Find Effie.”

The dog shook herself and then started sniffing around. She was slow and Haymitch followed at an unhurried pace.

He didn’t think anybody noticed when he sneaked out of the yard after the dog. Then again, nobody had noticed when Effie had disappeared, not even him.

He wasn’t entirely surprised when Lavi guided him up the street and to his own house. She ignored the geese wandering around in the front yard and shot up the rickety stairs and straight to the woman who was curled up on the swing seat he had bought her for her birthday. They spent most of their nights out on the porch drinking tea and looking at the stars, they might as well do it on a comfortable seat instead of a rusty bench – or so he had reasoned when he had ordered it, the fact that she had confessed always dreaming of having one notwithstanding.

“Hello, baby.” Effie chuckled, moving the mug she had been clutching in both hands to her left one so she could scratch the dog behind her ears. She looked up as Haymitch climbed the three steps. “Did you send Lavinia after me?”

He absolutely refused to use the Capitol name she had chosen for their dog. It wasn’t the worst Capitol name but it sounded ridiculous given that Lavi was a stray mutt that couldn’t have been furthest from having a pedigree if they had deliberately tried – they hadn’t tried, Effie had found her when she was a puppy, had brought her home without giving him a choice and that had been that.

“Got bored with the party?” he asked, hiding the tinge of worry in his voice as well as he could.

She had been planning Finn’s birthday party for _weeks._ It just wasn’t like her to disappear in the middle of something she was hosting.

And she had changed clothes, too, he realized. Gone was the fancy red dress with the smart black jacket, she was now wearing a heavy blue sweater with comfortable grey pants and thick socks that belonged to him. That wasn’t an outfit she ever wore when they had visitors, which meant she didn’t intend to join their friends again any time soon.

She stared at the mutt who was wagging her tail in pleasure at the treat of being scratched behind the ears and took a sip of her mug. “It got a little too much.”

Too many people.

He had told her inviting Beetee, Plutarch and Cressida was overkill. It would have been fine with just the two of them, the kids and Annie and Jo. But she had insisted and he had caved like he often did lately.

“That’s fine.” he promised, because he knew she would be self-conscious about it. He sat down next to her, nudging the dog aside with his leg to make room, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Lavi, sensing that her cuddle time was being cut short, flopped down on Effie’s feet and went back to her napping.

“Is it?” she whispered. “It has been five years and the others are fine.” 

“It’s not a competition.” he reminded her, pressing a kiss against her hair. “Took me thirty years to get to a point I’m finally… _good_.”

Not perfect but good.

_Happy_.

Nowadays, the drinking was even manageable. He was toying with the idea of cutting it off entirely. He had started slowing it down, he had asked around at the clinic about methods to quit that wouldn’t be cold turkey because he would _never again_ go through that, he was… Yeah, he was happy. Thanks to her and the kids and that stupid puppy she had brought home, who used to fit in one of his hands and who was now roughly the size of a small pony.

“I know.” she admitted, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I will be alright. I just need… I just need some quiet time.”

“Finn’s down for the count anyway.” he told her. “And you did everything so the kids can handle the clean-up, that’s fair.” There were enough people over there to take care of things but he knew she would fret about it all the same. “I’m thinking we should have a night in. Let Peeta take the others to _Sae’s_ …”

“You just want me all to yourself.” she teased.

He shrugged without any shame.“Always.”

“How is it you always seem to find me and comfort me when I sneak out of birthday parties?” she asked, looking up at him with a small smile.

He frowned a little, not quite following. He tried to remember when he had last followed her out of a birthday party and drew a blank. She had stormed out of a lot of parties over the years, either because she was angry or upset, and he had followed her either because he was eager for a fight or a _fuck_ … But birthday parties… There had been a few, he guessed, sponsors events had been varied, but he couldn’t remember anything particular about any of them.

He winced. “What are the chances I end up on the couch if I say I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

She chuckled and pressed her forehead against his neck, burrowing closer to his side. “You would not, I suppose. You did not know me yet.”

“Right…” he drawled out when it became clear she wouldn’t say any more. He playfully tugged on a curly blond strand that had escaped her fancy bun. “That makes zero sense to me.”

He expected a joke or another mysterious reference to meetings he had no memories of – it seemed their paths had crossed a few times before she had become his escort but he had never paid attention and that was a shame because he could have had her earlier, he could have… – what he got was a half serious sigh.

“Do you ever think back to who you used to be when you were a child?” she asked.

“Try not to.” he answered immediately and honestly. He had been a different person then. Before his arena. Before… _everything_. That person probably wouldn’t have approved of the choices he had made over the years. He wasn’t even sure that boy would have approved of him living with an escort, no matter how special Effie was.

“I do. _Sometimes_.” she amended.

“And?” he probed.

He couldn’t believe this was the life she would have wanted when she was a kid. He knew her well enough to know that, at that point, she had wanted to please her mother above all else and that most likely had meant finding a wealthy husband, being rich and ruling their social circle.

“And…” Her voice trailed off a little. “I got you and I got a real dog and that makes the thirteen year-old girl in me really happy.”

She topped that off with a peck on his lips and started rubbing the dog with her sock-clad foot. Lavi didn’t even open her eyes, she just rolled on her back and enjoyed her sleepy belly rub.

He thought her answer over and then shrugged it off as another of those things he would never get about her. “So what you’re saying is that you were always weird, yeah?”

She whacked his arm with pursed lips and narrowed eyes but there was a twinkle in her gaze and that was much better than finding her brooding. He smirked and erased the pout with his own mouth.

She tasted sweet.

Like strawberry tea and chocolate cake.

And she was the best thing that had ever happened to him, he mused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? I cannot stop obsessing about post mj hayffie having pets. A dog in particular. Watch me spiralling into giving them a new dog every one shot haha! Let me know your thoughts!
> 
> Ok so for what comes next! next Friday will be hiatus. I am like one chapter and a half way from finishing the crack baby fic so that will be next. Tentative working title for now is "When It Rains, It Pours" which might a bit long idk... It's still in the work haha. So if everything goes like I want, it will be up on the 12th of June.

**Author's Note:**

> Did you like it? Let me know!


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